FTSE 100 movers: Ashtead surges on results; Standard Life hit by downgrade
London's FTSE 100 was up 1.8% to 6,840.71 in afternoon trade on Tuesday, recovering from the previous session's losses as Ashtead and WPP rallied.
Equipment rental company Ashtead was the standout gainer as it said it expects full-year results to beat expectations after interim pre-tax profit rose 45% to £461m.
Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell, said: "Guidance for better than previously expected full year results from Ashtead has put a rocket underneath its share price.
"The construction equipment rental expert is benefiting from a well-invested business where it is able to offer a broader product range on a wider geographic basis into a market enjoying structural growth. As such, it is mopping up market share and driving earnings at quite a rate.
"Drill into the numbers and you’ll see a continuation of a long-standing trend that its US business is doing exceedingly well while its UK business is finding life very hard, albeit not disastrous."
Elsewhere, WPP racked up strong gains as new boss Mark Read said he will spend £300m over the next three years to restructure the marketing and advertising giant with the aim of achieving an operating profit margin of at least 15%.
Anglo American was also on the rise after saying it expects production for the year to be 2% above previous guidance and costs 5% below.
"We are also confident about the outlook, with production expected to increase by 3% in 2019, with cost inflation fully absorbed by our productivity and cost improvements," it said.
On the downside, Standard Life Aberdeen was the worst performer on the index as RBC Capital Markets cut the stock to 'sector perform' from 'outperform' and slashed the price target to 260p from 350p.
"The dividend is less secure now that SLA has turned its back on its insurance roots. The cash generation of the business is now leveraged to prevailing market conditions," it said.
FTSE 100 - Risers
Ashtead Group (AHT) 1,700.50p 5.85%
WPP (WPP) 852.00p 5.84%
GVC Holdings (GVC) 663.50p 5.40%
Anglo American (AAL) 1,656.80p 5.19%
Wood Group (John) (WG.) 644.80p 5.08%
Antofagasta (ANTO) 776.60p 5.00%
Melrose Industries (MRO) 153.10p 4.65%
Scottish Mortgage Inv Trust (SMT) 492.50p 4.51%
Glencore (GLEN) 286.25p 4.28%
CRH (CRH) 2,063.00p 4.01%
FTSE 100 - Fallers
Standard Life Aberdeen (SLA) 225.90p -1.44%
Randgold Resources Ltd. (RRS) 6,952.00p -0.97%
RSA Insurance Group (RSA) 499.80p -0.52%
Rightmove (RMV) 431.95p -0.09%
Shire Plc (SHP) 4,498.50p -0.03%
Direct Line Insurance Group (DLG) 307.32p 0.04%
Associated British Foods (ABF) 2,162.00p 0.05%
Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) 52.96p 0.12%
Land Securities Group (LAND) 820.80p 0.29%
SEGRO (SGRO) 606.40p 0.36%